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Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) tallied a match-high 15 kills, and freshman Taylor Pritchett (Apex, N.C.) dropped in eight service aces to lead the Lees-McRae College women's volleyball team to a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over the University of Montevallo on Friday afternoon at the Tusculum Fall Classic.

Lees-McRae (1-4) won the match by scores of 23-25, 25-18, 25-12, and 25-23, holding Montevallo (2-4) to a .043 hitting percentage while dropping in 17 service aces. The Bobcats also posted nine blocks and 55 digs, as the Falcons tallied seven stuffs and 56 savers.Clendenin posted 15 kills and five errors on 35 swings, while Megan Epperson (St. John, Ind.) chipped in a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) added 36 assists, eight digs, and six service aces, while Sariah Suryadevara (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Pritchett added team-highs of 14 digs and eight aces, respectively.Katie Best paced Montevallo with eight kills, while Lucy Perez and Michelle Walker chipped in seven and five kills, respectively. Anna Garrison chipped in a double-double with 24 assists and a match-high 18 digs for the Falcons.Montevallo started strong in the first set, opening an early 6-2 lead before the Bobcats responded, cutting the margin to 9-7 on a kill by Epperson. The Falcons answered with a 9-3 run, opening an 18-10 lead on a kill by Best before the Bobcats responded, launching on a 9-1 spurt to even the tally at 19-19 on a Pritchett ace. Montevallo struck back with a 5-3 run to close out the set, capping the frame on a Walker kill to take an early 1-0 lead.The Bobcats answered in the second set, rallying from an early 8-6 deficit with an 11-2 run to take a 17-10 lead on a Mitchell service ace. After the Bobcats stretched the margin to 21-13 on a decisive block by Dana Oliver (Davie, Fla.) and Kallai Johnston (Statesville, N.C.) and Montevallo answered with a pair of points, Pritchett dropped in two straight aces before the Bobcats capped the set on a Falcon miscue.Lees-McRae carried the momentum into the third set, opening an early 14-3 lead on a Pritchett service ace. After the Falcons trimmed the margin to 16-8 on a Walker block, the Bobcats launched a 9-4 run to close out the set on a kill by Lauren Fox (Garland, Texas).The fourth set featured back-and-forth play on both sides, with Montevallo opening the set with a 7-4 run before the Bobcats responded, launching a 7-1 spurt to claim an 11-8 lead on a Falcon attack error. Montevallo answered with a 4-0 spurt to claim a narrow 12-11 margin, and after the Bobcats struck back to two straight points to retake the lead, went on a 4-0 run to take a 16-13 advantage on a block by Best and Perez.Lees-McRae battled back, erasing a 19-16 deficit with a 5-2 spurt to even the score at 21-21on a Fox kill. After Montevallo reclaimed the one-point lead on a pair of occasions, the Bobcats shut the door with a 3-0 run to close out the match on a Mitchell service ace.The Bobcats return to the court later Friday afternoon when they take on Lenoir-Rhyne University at Tusculum's Fall Classic at 3 p.m. in Pioneer Arena.

Bobcats rally past Bears, 3-1

The Lees-McRae College women's volleyball team won its second match of the day in come-from-behind fashion on Friday, rallying past Lenoir-Rhyne University in four sets behind double-doubles from Megan Mitchell (Minden, Nev.) and Megan Epperson (St. John, Ind.).Lees-McRae (2-4) won the match by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-19, and 25-23 while posting a .281 hitting percentage to go along with 71 digs. The Bobcats held Lenoir-Rhyne (3-3) to a .097 clip on the attack, as the Bears tallied seven blocks and 56 digs.Taylor Clendenin (Statesville, N.C.) tallied a match-high 17 kills to pace the Bobcats, while Dana Oliver (Davie, Fla.) and Epperson posted 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Sariah Suryadevara (Cincinnati, Ohio) added a match-high 27 digs, while Mitchell chipped in a double-double with a contest-best 45 assists and 11 digs.Haley Rhyne paced Lenoir-Rhyne with 11 kills, while Cayla Crawley chipped in a team-high 13 digs. Meredith Lutz added 16 assists and eight digs, as Kaitlyn Burton chipped in 15 helpers.The opening set was a tightly contested affair, with neither team holding more than a four-point advantage for the duration of the frame. Lees-McRae took a 14-12 lead midway through the set on a Bear error before pushing the margin to 17-13 on a Suryadevara service ace.Lenoir-Rhyne answered with a 6-4 run, trimming the margin to 21-19 on a block by Joanna Whitmire and Brittany Toffan. After the Bobcats answered with two points of their own, the Bears closed out the set with a 6-0 run to take an early 1-0 advantage in the match.The Bobcats responded in the second, taking an early 14-7 lead on a Suryadevara service ace before pushing the margin to 19-11 on an Oliver kill. After the Bears trimmed the margin to 19-14 on a block by Whitmire and Toffan, the Bobcats answered with a 6-2 run to close out the set on an Epperson smash.Lees-McRae carried the momentum into the third set, opening an early 14-9 advantage before stretching the margin to 17-11 on an Oliver kill. After the Bears cut the lead to 23-18 on a Rhyne kill, the Bobcats responded with two of the next three points, closing out the frame on an Epperson kill.The fourth set proved to be a tightly contested affair, with Lenoir-Rhyne claiming a narrow 15-13 advantage on a kill by Chelsea Hill before the Bobcats responded, launching a 5-0 run to claim an 18-15 lead on back-to-back kills by Epperson. After the Bears rallied to take a 23-21 lead, the Bobcats answered with a 4-0 run to claim the set and the match on a Lenoir-Rhyne miscue.Lees-McRae returns to the court on Saturday at the Tusculum Fall Classic when the Bobcats take on Francis Marion University at 1 p.m., before squaring off against host Tusculum at 5 p.m. in Pioneer Arena.